The Football Forecast

Newcastle United January transfer rumours

With the January transfer window quickly approaching the question begs, do Newcastle United need to buy more players? At the moment everything is speculation but the team have already been linked with several players.

Daryl Horgan has been linked with the black and white club. Dundalk’s Irish winger has stated that “I’m a Dundalk player, I’m very happy at Dundalk but as I said, if an offer does come in from somewhere, I’d have to consider it, especially something like a massive club like Newcastle.” The Irishman has already bagged 10 goals in 22 matches this season with one of those coming against FC Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Europa League. Obviously, nothing is set in stone yet but Horgan would definitely be welcomed with open arms.

Newcastle have also been linked with 19-year-old Wilfred Ndidi. The Belgian centre-back is one of the highest rated young defenders coming out of Belgium. Genk have already turned down a £5 million bid from German club Hamburg with an apparent £8 million minimum valuation being placed on him. Both The Mag and The Chronicle have reported on this rumour.

There is one more rumour about a possible transfer. That’s a return for the infamous Joey Barton. The midfielder recently had his contract with Rangers terminated and many fans have voiced their opinion on his return. The Chronicle have reported that Aston Villa and Burnley are both looking for his signature. Barton was part of the 2009/10 squad that saw Newcastle gain promotion to the Premier League after relegation the season before. Obviously, his personality would be a massive problem but he could bring valuable experience to the squad. I know he has massive attitude problems but I’d like to see him return to St James’ Park. Would you?

Some of the fans favourite players have been linked with big moves away from St James’ Park. Skipper Jamaal Lascelles has been linked with an £18 million move to Chelsea. The English centre-half who recently turned 23, shot up the ranks after giving a blunt and mature interview after a 3-1 loss to Southampton and was handed the captain’s armband at the start of this season. Jamaal shows an incredible amount of maturity for a player his age and rightly so has turned the heads of England’s biggest clubs. Fortunately, Benitez has dismissed these claims and is under no pressure whatsoever to sell the captain. So it looks like Lascelles isn’t off to Stamford Bridge. Reports from

Reports from The Chronicle. Another favourite among the Newcastle faithful has been linked with a move away. Italian giants Napoli are said to been chasing Serbian striker Alexsandr Mitrovic. With new signing Arkadiusz Milik out until February Maurizio Sarri is chasing another striker to fill in for the Polish man. The Italian team are also said to be chasing Arsenal’s target man Olivier Giroud, so it’s pretty clear what type of player they are looking for. However, Newcastle supporters need not be worried as Mitrovic’s agent has gone on record in an interview for CalcioNapoli24 and said “He will spend another six months in England, then well decide what to do with his future.” So it’s pretty clear that Mitrovic will be staying with Newcastle United for at least this season. Reports from Shields Gazette.